Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 763 Has the Lion’s Hunt Begun?
When walking from the back garden to the tree-lined avenue, the gray-white fog had already filled the entire manor, casting a bleak halo on the light of the street lamps. Linger raised his head and through the lush trees, he could just see a large dark cloud hovering over the forest farm. The cries of the crows and the sounds of their flapping wings gathered together, rising and falling like waves. The feathers falling from their bodies fluttered in a flurry, making people mistakenly think that another group of night crows was being born. The size of the crow group thus expanded exponentially, almost submerging the entire forest farm.

This scene was so horrifying that some timid maids covered their ears and shivered in the dark. According to legend, black cats and crows are both bad omens, the former representing disaster and the latter representing death. Lingge used to think it was a superstitious belief, but now that he has seen it with his own eyes, he knows that all the rumors are not groundless.

"It seems that Professor Heinrich must have very high requirements for the greening of Xiaoliang Palace." Gloria also saw this scene, but she was not as timid and afraid as ordinary girls. She was even in the mood to make a joke: "With so many animal companions accompanying him, I believe he must be very relieved when conducting some research that is not convenient for outsiders to know late at night?"

She was vaguely ironic that Professor Heinrich was also one of the night crows. His disguise, his true identity, and the research materials he kept in his secret study all happened to fit the life habits of this passerine. But it was not just Professor Heinrich. I'm afraid the entire witch society was like this. The black feathers falling from the witches and philosophers were gradually eating away at the sky of the civilized world.

Of course, this was not the most important issue at the moment. Linger's gaze only stayed on the crows for a moment before he withdrew. He was now certain that something had happened to Nevile and Leticia, because the place where the crows were lingering was exactly the location of Professor Heinrich's secret study mentioned in the intelligence. But what kind of accident could stop Nevile, a demigod vampire, from taking action? And, since the infiltration had failed, what should they do now?
It was undoubtedly escape.

Just as this thought came to my mind, there was a sound of horse hooves coming from the avenue in the east, accompanied by someone's panicked voice: "Wow, what are you doing, don't run over there! Come back, come back! Hey, hey, hey, don't just stand there, make way quickly, my horse has a bad temper, it's none of my business if you get hit, okay?"

Lingge and Gloria looked in the direction of the sound and saw the alchemical carriage made by Rorona coming towards them under the control of Alice. However, the golden-haired maid's driving skills were obviously not as exquisite as the Countess's, so the carriage was stumbling around like a drunk man going crazy on the street. Sometimes the horse on the left ran to the right, and the horse on the right ran to the left, and they collided before they even took a step; sometimes, the two horses finally ran in the same direction under the guidance of Alice, but the carriage drifted in the opposite direction... It was really the most appropriate description to say that they each went their own way.

Alice, who took the task out of play, had no idea that driving a carriage would be so difficult. It was totally unlike the game where she only had to control the joystick and buttons. She was in a rush for a moment. She had to hold the reins and use the whip to guide the two horses, while also paying attention to the situation on the road at all times and loudly reminding the people in front of her to get out of the way... Just looking at it makes one feel sweaty.

But she was gifted after all, so although the process was full of twists and turns, she managed to drive the carriage to Lingge and Gloria safely in the end. Moreover, because the speed was too fast, in order to avoid the fountain pool at the crossroads, she pulled the reins in a hurry and pulled the horses' heads to the side. The two big white horses were a little hurt by her pulling, and they subconsciously neighed and sped up at the corner, directly dragging the carriage to complete a difficult 90-degree drift. The wheels at high speed rubbed against the hard stone road, splashing golden red sparks and leaving two perfect arc tracks on the ground behind them.

After barely reining in the horse, Alice let out a long sigh, wiped the sweat from her forehead, looked back, and was immediately overjoyed: "Wow, accelerating in a curve and drifting at a right angle, this is too cool, I really am Takumi Akina Mountain."

"The operation did fail, mainly because I encountered a witch from the society in the secret study. I couldn't beat her, so I found a chance to escape." The countess briefly explained the whole story and did not hide the fact that she was not as strong as others. After all, she was a witch from the society.

Linger and Gloria walked over, and the young man asked directly, calling the golden-haired maid out of her complacent state of mind: "Why are you here? Where are Nevile and Leticia?"

If the two big white horses refined by Lorena and this alchemical chariot were not strong enough, they would have been torn to pieces by you long ago. Don't you have any idea whether your skills are good or not?
Never mind. Now is not the time to dwell on this sort of thing.

"Ah? Oh." Alice then remembered the important matter and explained quickly: "Xiao Xia said that the operation might have failed, so she asked me to drive the carriage to pick you up. As for Nevile and Leticia, I didn't see them, but they should be fine..."

A voice came from the sky, and soon after, the Countess flapped her black bat wings and descended from the sky, holding her lovely granddaughter under her armpit. Although the posture was a bit indecent, Leticia seemed to be in a good mood, so she didn't care about Alice's face of trying to hold back a smile.

"I am here."

Ringer and Gloria, who witnessed the thrilling scene: "..."

Ling was surprised to hear this word, and Gloria shook her head again and again: "Impossible, as far as I know, the witches and philosophers of the association should be preparing for their mid-year meeting, how can they have time to attend Professor Heinrich's party?"

"I don't know about that, but it's true." Nevile looked around and said, "And now is not the time to say such things. Let's get in the car. We should leave here, at least get out of Westminster first."

Not to mention that Alice made quite a commotion when she drove the carriage over, Nevile's disguise had already been exposed, so when she landed on the ground, several servants of the manor who witnessed this scene nearby fainted on the spot, and the others fled while shouting "vampires". It is estimated that soon, Xiaoliang Palace will be in chaos. As for what to do after the operation fails...Westminster District is the headquarters of the cult alliance. It is obviously not wise to continue staying here. We must escape from Westminster District first before we are qualified to discuss the next plan.

Ling Ge made a quick decision: "Let's go."

He glanced back: "Are you leaving with us, Miss Gloria?"

Everyone else thought this question was a bit strange. The gray-haired girl also blinked her eyes: "Why do you ask such a question, Mr. Lingge? You and I are in the same group, right?"

Are they really in the same group?

As targets of the witch society, they naturally wanted to flee as far as possible, but Gloria was still the third princess. For the sake of the royal family, she might be punished, but her life would never be in danger. This was why Linger wanted her to stay. From any perspective, Gloria didn't need to take risks with them.

But Gloria did not stay out of it, but chose to continue to go along with it. Was it out of loyalty among accomplices, or was it out of guilt for involving outsiders in this incident?

Linger looked at her deeply and said nothing more. So, everyone hurriedly got on the carriage. Alice was still shouting for herself to drive, but everyone worked together to stop her. Then Nevelle took over the driver's position again. She gently pulled the reins and whipped the horse whip. The two white horses pulled the carriage and ran along the straight tree-lined avenue towards the gate. The clatter of the horses' hooves gradually accelerated. Before others could react, they rushed through the carved iron gate of the mansion and disappeared into the deep night.

At this time, Michelle and Sally, who had sensed something was wrong and had sped up to rush over, only saw the last shadow of the carriage before it merged into the night. The Mindelias people with sinister eyes gritted their teeth and said, "We were still a step too slow. The invaders escaped."

Sally was about to say something when the roaring sound of a steam engine suddenly came from the back of the mansion. The deafening momentum even covered the cries of crows in the night sky. The two looked up at the same time and saw a silver-white steel chariot rumbling on the fragile stone road and heading towards them. Their eyes lit up with surprise - they didn't expect that Professor Heinrich's manor actually had such a good thing hidden in it, the Crusher X-type magic armored vehicle, which was only two models behind the Interceptor XII magic armored vehicle equipped by the Night Watch.

It is definitely more than enough to catch up with the carriage.

Soon, the magic armored vehicle stopped in front of the two men. The door opened from the inside, revealing the captain Wade Locke with a serious expression on his face. Sitting in the driver's seat was the team's technician Agil.

"Get in the car, Michelle, Sally." Wade Locke said without further ado, "The Queen has issued a death order. We must stop them. We don't have much time left."

Her Majesty!?
When did Her Majesty the Queen know the news? And who was the intruder? Why did Her Majesty the Queen personally ask about this matter?

Michelle and Sally could hardly hide the astonishment on their faces, but after all, they were well-trained and experienced in many battles. They deeply understood that the primary responsibility of a soldier was to carry out the mission, so they got on the magic armored vehicle without hesitation and closed the door with a low muffled sound.

Aegir, who was sitting in the driver's seat, adjusted the operating power of the armored vehicle's magic furnace to the maximum. The next moment, this giant beast cast from steel restarted in a terrifying manner, biting the traces left by the invader's carriage and chasing after it with a roar and a snarl, like a lion chasing its prey on the plains, and it would not stop until it had torn it to pieces with its sharp teeth and fangs.

All that was left behind was the noisy night and the bright lights in the main hall of the party that were still shining.

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)